Pacific Solar is a family-owned company in Fresno, Calif.

“Our family has been in business in the valley for over 100 years,” said owner David Wasemiller. “Obviously we weren’t always in solar.”

Wasemiller also owns a construction company. He and his team, including his son who is an electrician, built the valley’s first all-solar gated community in 2006. Every home in the development featured a 3 kilowatt photovoltaic solar system on its roof, Wasemiller said.

The people who bought the homes weren’t sure what to make of the solar systems.

Though it wasn’t that long ago, Wasemiller said a lot of the homebuyers were confused and thought the solar systems were solar thermal hot water heaters. He had to explain to them that it would provide most of the homes’ electricity.

“Most of the homeowners have really enjoyed having electric bills of $20 to $30 a month,” he said, “especially when most of them used to pay upward of $300 a month for power.”

Building that green neighborhood launched the Wasemiller family into the solar business fully. Now, in a devastatingly depressed economy where building has all but stopped and unemployment is pushing 15 percent, Pacific Solar still has work.

Homeowners in Fresno have more than just a few reasons to consider solar. California has offered some aggressive rebates, though Wasemiller said he’s prepared for those to run out soon. The federal government is still offering tax credits, which make buying a system more palatable, he said.

But the biggest draws to solar in the area are local ones. Thousands of kilowatts of solar are being installed on public and private land all around Fresno for large utility-scale projects because the area gets tremendous sun.

The same sun that will power those big projects can be harnessed for residential use.

Pacific Solar is conveniently located in one of the sunniest places in the world and is eager to help homeowners install their own systems.

The other big draw for Fresno residents to go solar is that the utility company offers some of the highest buy-back rates in the country, Wasemiller said. They average $0.40 per kilowatt hour during peak times and $0.20 to $.30 the rest of the year, Wasemiller said.

Pacific Solar, up until now, has focused primarily on residential solar installations but is working on getting some larger commercial projects, Wasemiller said.

“Some of those business owners are spending more than $5,000 a month on electricity,” Wasemiller said. “And they’re looking for alternatives.”

Image courtesy of Pacific Solar.